Craig Adams announced Tuesday that he will be retiring from the NHL after 14 seasons. Playing a total of 951 career games, Adams is finishing his career with a total of 55 goals and 105 assists. Adams played for three NHL teams: the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After playing four years (1995-99) with the Harvard Crimson’s, Adams was drafted in the ninth round of the 1996 draft by the Hartford Whalers. However, Adams did not play his first NHL game until the 2000-2001 season with the Hurricanes against the San Jose Sharks, and stayed with the team until 2008. Adam’s earned his first career goal and point in the 2000 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
During the 2004-05 lockout season, Adams played overseas for HC Milano in Italy.
In 2008, Adams was traded to the Blackhawks, but was soon re-signed to the Penguins in 2009 after he was claimed off of waivers from the Blackhawks. Adams played as a right wing on the fourth line for the Penguins, where he stayed for seven seasons, after not being re-signed in 2015 with the team.
Throughout his NHL career, Adams had two Stanley Cup wins, one in 2006 with the Hurricanes, and one in 2009 with the Penguins.
As a member of the 2009 Penguins championship team, Adams played 24 playoff games as a defensive forward as well as a penalty kill specialist.
In the 2010-11 season Adams led the Penguin’s forwards with 64 blocked shots, ranking fourth overall on the team with 171 hits. Adams also acted as a key component of the Penguin’s No. 1 ranked penalty killing unit, making the 2010-11 season the first season in franchise history that the Penguins ended as the league’s top penalty killing unit.
In the 2014-15 season Adams played 70 regular-season games with the Penguins, finishing with one goal and six assists.
